Vending-machine.



J. H; osBoRNB. VBNDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILEUJUNE z, 1911. l i 1,027,499. Patented May 28, 1912.

'nvautoz @ttm/nef MMIII UNITED gsri'irns rATENr OFFICE.

y JOI-IN H. OSBORNE, OFVANDERSON, INDIANA.

VENDING-MACHINE.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Application mea June a, 1911. 'serial 110.530.949.

'sectional view thereof; and Figs. 4, 5 and 6' are detail viewshereinafter described.

The object of this invention is to provide a machine which shall beextremely simple in construction and be adapted especially for the saleof postage stamps upon the inseraol tion of a coin, the special featureconsisting 1n meansy whereby it will be impossible to introduce a coininto the coin-receiving means when the magazine has become ex hausted.

`In the drawings, a designates a suitabley casing having mountedcentrally within it a vertical post b, the casing being provided with aremovable top plate c having a cen tral hole for the reception of theupper end of said post or shaft b, said plate being removably locked inplace upon the casing by means of a latching slide d slidingly mountedon the under side of the top plate and adapted to engage a groove in thepost. This lock slide is accessible only through the opening in whichthe coin drawer e is inserted, so that it cannot be reached except whenthe coin drawer is removed.

On the post is rotatably mounted a wheel f which is normally actuated inone direction by means of a single convolute spring g. rEhe rim of thiswheel Yis'provided with a series of equidistant radial slits h adaptedto receive the postage stamps or other articles to Vbe vended, theseslits or slots being sufficiently shallow to cause the edges of theystamps to project above the face of the rim sufficiently to be graspedby the ngers. As the wheel revolves by a step-by-step movement thestamps are brought successively under the extracting'opening i in thetop plate, suitable depending flanges j beingV provided to prevent theextraction of any kstamps other than those directly under the opening.

p `vAlternating with the stamp-receiving slits is a serles ofcom-recelvingnotches athese Patented May 28,1912.`

notches being cut inwardly from the' outer i edge of the rim. Adapted toenter, in the lmanner of a pawl, each one of these notches as it passesover the coin-drawer,'is a lockpinll mounted in the adjacent wall yofthe casing and normally forced inwardly by a suit-able spring. This pinis provided at its outer end with a knob for manually withdrawing itwhen the wheel is turned in the reverse direction to wind up the spring,and this knob is Apositioned in the casing wall just above thecoin-drawer, so that the upwardly extending flange thereon will hide itfrom view and preventit from being'opering a short distance so that itsinner end will lie in the path of apin p on the rim of the wheel, thispin being so positioned on the, wheel that when the last stamp-receivingslit is carried past the extracting opening saidV pin will strikeagainst said casing` o and thus stop the wheel from rotatingVanyfarther.

The coins are introduced into the machine through a vertical tube gfastened to the top plate in vertical alinement with the pin Z,

so that the tube will direct the coin into the slot which is for thetime being in engagement with the lock-pin Z, the distance between theend of the lock-pin and the inner wall of the notch being less than thediameter of the coin, so that the coin will be supported between the endof the pin and the inner wall of the notch. The coin is introducedilatwise through an opening 1' in the coin-tube hand from this openingwill fall directly into the coin notch in the rim.

The coins are' pushed downwardly past thelock pin v,by means of aplunger s sl1d-' be raised sufficiently to bring the plunger toi a pointabove the receiving hole rl.' then after the coinl is introduced anddrops into the coin notch in the'wheel, the plunger is jated when thedrawer is closed. A casing 0 `surrounds this pin and projects into thecasforced downwardly against the upper edge of the coin, whereupon therounder edge of the coin will act as a caln to force the pin Z outwardlyfar enough to permit the coinA to pass down into the coin drawer. Thenthe pin is thus forced outwardly it becomes disengaged from the coinnotch, whereupon the spring g will cause the wheel to rotate in thedirection of the arrows. As the wheel rotates the pin Z will bearagainst the periphery'of the rim until the wheel moves the distance ofone coin slot, whereupon the pin will snap into the next coin slot andthus again lock the wheel against rotation. This rotation of the wheelwill bring another batch of stamps under the delivery opening.

At its inner edge the plunger is provided with an inwardly extending lugo which when the wheel has made a complete rotation and the last batchof stamps is brought under the delivery opening, will be engaged under ahook w carried at the inner edge of the wheel rim, thus locking theplunger against being raised to operat-ive position. IVhen the plungeris thus locked down its operating rod t will extend across thecoinreceiving opening r and thus prevent the introduction of a coin.

It will be obvious that when the plunger is locked down by hook 'w thecover of the casing cannot be removed. To move the wheel far enough tounlock the plunger from the hook it is simply necessary to pull out thelock-pin Z to release the wheel and permit it to turn by the action ofits convolute spring; and to prevent the wheel turning too far underthese conditions the pin p on the wheel is so positioned as to strikethe projecting tube o after the wheel is moved a short distance. The pinp and project-ing part 0 perform another function, namely, to stop thewheel at the proper point for eharging and for starting the vendingoperations after the wheel has been turned back to wind up its actuatingspring.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. In a vending machine, the combination of a movable magazinecontaining article receiving openings and also coinreceiving openings, aloclpin engaging the coinreceiving opening, a plunger coperatingtherewith, and means operated by the magazine for locking the plungerwhen the magazine has been emptied.

2. In a vending machine, the combination of a casing, a movable magazinetherein, coin-operated means for releasing the magazine embodying acoin-receiving tube provided with a hole for the introduction of a coin,a plunger and operating rod vworking in said tube and normally closingsaid hole when in its inoperative position, and means operated by themagazine for locking said plunger in its normal inoperative position.

3. In combination, a casing, a wheel therein and means for normallyrotating it in one direction, said wheel being provided with a series ofalternating article holding slots and coin receiving slots, a lock pinnormally entering said coin slots in succession as the wheel rotates,the end of the pin and the walls of the slot it happens to be in for thetime being serving to support the coin, and plunger means for forcingthe coin through t-he slot to thereby force the pin out of engagementwith the slot and permit the wheel to normally rotate one step.

4. In combination, a casing, a spring-actuated wheel therein providedwith coin-receiving slots and article-holding means, coincontrolledmeans for operating said wheel embodying a plunger having a lock-lug,and a lock-hook on the wheel in position to engage said lock-lug whenthe magazine is emptied.

5.'In combination, a casing, a movable magazine therein, coin-controlledmeans for actuating the magazine embodying a coinpushing plunger, acoin-receiving tube provided with a coin-receiving hole, the plungerbeing gravitatingly mounted in said tube and normally lying at a pointbelow the hole therein, and means for locking the plunger in its loweredor inoperative position when the magazine has been emptied.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aliX my signature in the presence of twowitnesses.

J. H. OSBORNE.

IVitnesses:

R. P. GRIMES, WV. H. HINTON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe "Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

